Reminder: US Airways 100% Bonus on Purchased Miles Ends Today
Update: Some offers mentioned below are no longer available. View the current offers here.
Turns out June 30 is a big day for promotions to end. Today is the last day to take advantage of the 100% bonus on purchased miles through U.S. Airways. Unlike some past promotions, this one isn’t targeted and there is no need to register as you will receive the 100% bonus miles automatically when you go to the Buy Miles page. However, you must be a Dividend Miles member for at least 12 days, and mileage purchases are limited to 50,000 miles (100,000 miles with the bonus).
Including taxes, the cost to buy 50,000 + 50,000 bonus miles is $1,881.25, breaking down to 1.8 cents per mile, which can be a great deal if you redeem for expensive awards.
100% bonus on purchased miles
Purchasing miles from a frequent flyer program is usually a high-price/ low-value way to add some miles to your account, and is generally only a last resort if you need to top up your account for a particular award. But every so often there are some purchased-mile bonuses that might be worth it to some travelers and depending if you have an upcoming award in mind.
Some people think that US Airways has awful award availability, but the main problem is that their website does not show any availability for the other 26 Star Alliance carriers. They have the same Star Alliance availability as United or Aeroplan, it’s just that they don’t show it on their website – you have to call 1-800-428-4322 to book an award and they will waive the phone booking fee since partner awards are not bookable online.
Note: These purchases are processed through points.com so they generally do not count as “Airfare” (for the Amex Premier Rewards Gold 3x category) or for reimbursements through the Amex Platinum $200 rebate.
Check out my original post about this that shows some examples of award bookings you could book with U.S. Airways miles that might make a mileage purchase worth it, as well as ideas for checking on Star Alliance availability. Feel free to post any questions about the promo or US Airways in general in the comments section below.
Terms and Conditions
Offer available for purchases made between June 1 and 30, 2012, 11:59 MT. All purchases are non-refundable. Bonus miles will be awarded upon completion of the transaction. The maximum number of Buy Bonus miles that can be received by one member for this offer is 50,000 bonus miles. All miles purchased beyond this limit will not be eligible for a bonus. Offer is subject to change. Offer cannot be combined with any other offer. Share transactions are not eligible for bonus. Only purchases made online are eligible for the bonus. Miles are sold for $0.035 per mile plus a tax recovery charge of 7.5%. GST/HST will be charged to Canadian residents. Miles purchased through Buy, Share or Gift Miles do not count towards Dividend Miles Preferred status. All other Dividend Miles Terms and Conditions apply. Miles may be used based on award availability at the time of booking. Please note that Dividend Miles accounts less than 12 days old are not permitted to Buy, Share or Gift Miles. All purchases are non-refundable.
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